


I Like Hugs

by JimmyPenguin421



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Gen, Minor Barriss Offee/Ahsoka Tano, OR IS IT, Platonic Cuddling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-08
Updated: 2020-05-11
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:47:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24080002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JimmyPenguin421/pseuds/JimmyPenguin421
Summary: A fluffier take on the ending of Brain Invaders.
Relationships: Anakin Skywalker & Ahsoka Tano, Barriss Offee & Ahsoka Tano
Comments: 6
Kudos: 54





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Star Wars: The Clone Wars or any of the scenes thereof depicted within (that was a really fun sentence to write).

Ahsoka lifted the grate, shivering. She looked around, squinting through the cold mist.

“The bridge. At last,” she muttered to herself, pulling herself up through the vent. Wrapping her arms around herself to try and keep warm, she ran for the door to the bridge.

The door slid shut behind Ahsoka as she sat down in the pilot’s seat. Shivering as she was, it was a wonder she was able to hit the correct comm buttons.

“We’re coming in awfully fast. This is Ahsoka Tano. Can you hear me? I’m shutting down the engines. I’ll try to reverse the—"

The _hiss_ of a lightsaber vibrated in her montrals. With a panicked scream, Ahsoka ducked out of the way just as Barriss’s lightsaber slammed into the control panel, destroying the comm and probably a bunch of other important stuff.

Like the ventilation system, for example.

The bridge began to fill with freezing vapor. A pipe came loose, spraying directly into Barriss’s face. She cried out in surprise.

Ahsoka couldn’t be sure, but she thought it actually sounded like Barriss.

Better safe than sorry, though. She backed away, drawing her lightsaber from her belt but not igniting it.

Barriss turned and swung at Ahsoka. Ahsoka dodged, grabbed Barriss by the shoulders, and threw her against the wall. Taking advantage of Barriss’s stunned state, she ran back to the loose pipe and pointed it at Barriss.

As the frigid air hit her, Barriss clutched at her head, screaming in a strange combination of the worm’s voice and her own, and fell backwards onto the floor.

Ahsoka collapsed onto the floor, exhausted.

“Kill me.”

It was the real Barriss’s voice, scared and desperate. She raised her head and looked Ahsoka in the eyes.

“Please…”

“I can’t,” Ahsoka said. She dragged herself up to the viewport. The medical station was approaching fast.

Just as Ahsoka turned back, Barriss grabbed her by the throat and slammed her back against the control panel. Ahsoka grabbed at Barriss’s arms, hoping to dislodge her grip. She still had her lightsaber, but she didn’t want to hurt Barriss.

Barriss’s mouth opened, and a worm extended out of it like some perverted form of a tongue, hissing at Ahsoka.

Gritting her teeth, Ahsoka let go of Barriss’s arm and punched her in the face, knocking her back. She followed up with a kick to Barriss’s chest, giving herself enough time to ignite her lightsaber.

Carefully, Ahsoka approached Barriss. She was huddled on the floor, breathing heavily, the worm still protruding from her mouth. As Ahsoka came nearer, Barriss and the worm controlling her screamed in unison, Barriss’s fingers digging into her temples.

Steeling herself, Ahsoka raised her lightsaber and swung with the type of precision achievable only with the Force.

The worm fell out of Barriss’s mouth in two pieces, dead. Barriss’s eyes rolled back in her head and she collapsed.

Ahsoka put her lightsaber away and crouched down next to Barriss. She felt for a pulse.

It was there. If anything, it was too high.

Ahsoka took Barriss by the shoulders and shook her. “Barriss? Come on, wake up.”

Barriss groaned. She moved slightly and shivered. “W-Wha… A… Ahsoka?”

“Yeah, it’s me.”

“Ahsoka… what’s…”

“Shh,” Ahsoka said. “It’s okay. We’re s-safe now. Just cold.” She pulled Barriss into her arms.

“Oh… you’re warm,” Barriss murmured, curling up against her.

Ahsoka let her eyes fall shut.

* * *

The first thing Ahsoka felt was a hand on her chin, gently lifting her head.

She opened her eyes.

She could see something green… no, there was some brown too…

After a minute, she recognized it as a certain Nautolan Jedi Master.

“Hello… Master Fisto,” Ahsoka whispered. “We’re ready to pick up the supplies.” Her voice dropped, and her eyes fell shut again.

“We’ll take care of that,” said Master Fisto. Ahsoka could have sworn there was a hint of a chuckle in his voice. “You rest now, Ahsoka.”

* * *

When Ahsoka woke up again, she sat up, gasping.

Immediately, Anakin was at her side, a hand laid on her shoulder.

“It’s all right, Ahsoka. It’s okay,” he whispered.

Ahsoka got her eyes to focus and look up at him.

“You’re safe,” Anakin assured her. He gave her a smile. Not the smirk, but the real smile. The smile that so few ever saw on Anakin Skywalker.

“Barriss?” Ahsoka asked, letting Anakin gently push her back down onto the bed and pull the blanket back up.

Anakin pointed next to Ahsoka. She looked down and saw Barriss curled up against her side. Her eyes widened, and she felt her lekku darken.

“You wouldn’t let go of each other,” Anakin said, laughing quietly. “Snips, you are so lucky I didn’t have my camera.”

“It was cold!” she protested, trying to keep her voice low so as not to wake Barriss. “You of all people should understand! You’re from Tatooine!”

“Okay, okay,” he said, standing up and raising his hands in defense. “You two are just so… _cute_ together.”

“Master, you are _so lucky_ Barriss is still asleep,” Ahsoka growled through gritted teeth.

He just laughed and left the room.

Just then, Barriss stirred. She yawned and blinked. Then she noticed where she was. Her eyes flew open, and she began to scramble away from Ahsoka.

“Whoa,” Ahsoka giggled, putting out an arm to save Barriss from falling off the bed.

“What’s going…” Barriss gasped.

“Master Skywalker said we wouldn’t let go of each other,” Ahsoka said, hoping to direct the blame away from herself.

“Why were we holding each other in the first place?”

“You don’t remember?”

Barriss looked down, her eyes moving back and forth as she tried to recall the day’s events. Then her eyes widened again. “Oh… Ahsoka… I tried to… oh, Ahsoka, I’m so sorry.” She buried her face in her hands.

Ahsoka put a hand on her shoulder. “No, Barriss, it’s fine. It wasn’t you,” she reassured her.

“Why didn’t you kill me?” Barriss asked from behind her hands.

Ahsoka stared at her, aghast. _“What?_ I couldn’t just _kill_ you! Not when there was a chance of saving you!”

Barriss pulled her hands away. Ahsoka saw tears in her eyes. “Thank you,” she whispered. “Thank you.”

Ahsoka smiled. “Of course.”

There was a pause.

“Ahsoka?”

“Hm?”

“That experience was so… _frightening,_ and… it would be nice if… well…”

“Yeah, I’ll stay with you,” Ahsoka said, grinning. She pulled Barriss into a hug.

Barriss sighed. “Thank you,” she murmured, snuggling closer. “I like hugs.”

“Me too,” Ahsoka whispered back, resting her head on top of Barriss’s.

The two Padawans fell asleep, held snugly in each other’s arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's my headcanon that many Jedi secretly like hugs :)  
> I hope you enjoyed it! Feedback is always welcome!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I said this was a oneshot, but I couldn't help myself :)

“No… help…”

The voice pulled Barriss out of sleep. She groaned and stretched her limbs, forcing her eyes open.

She was in the medbay.

For a second, she was confused.

Then she remembered.

The medical frigate.

The worms.

Ahsoka.

Who was currently in the same bed as Barriss. She was tossing, but she still seemed to be asleep. Feelings of _sad_ and _hurt_ and _scared_ filled her Force signature.

“Stop…” she whimpered.

Barriss panicked for a second.

_Ahsoka is having a nightmare._

_What do you do for people with nightmares? I’ve never had to help anyone with them._

_What would Master Luminara do?_

She had no idea.

But she remembered how Ahsoka had hugged her as they went to sleep. That had been nice…

She scooted close to Ahsoka and wrapped her in her arms.

Ahsoka squirmed. “Aah… no… stop…”

Barriss retreated, worried she’d done something wrong, before realization kicked in.

_She doesn’t mean me._

_Probably she thinks I’m whatever she’s dreaming about._

And then realization kicked in again.

 _Oh, wait, I probably_ am _what she’s dreaming about._

But before Barriss could start drowning in her own guilt, Ahsoka’s scared noises pulled her back into the moment.

No matter who or what Ahsoka was dreaming about, Barriss had to do _something._

Slowly, she reached out and hugged Ahsoka again.

“Shh…” she whispered. “Just a dream. You’re safe.”

Ahsoka struggled a bit more, still whimpering.

But Barriss didn’t loosen her hold. She ran her hand up and down Ahsoka’s back in what she hoped was a calming motion, murmuring soothing little nothings against Ahsoka’s montral.

After a moment, Ahsoka calmed down and snuggled into Barriss’s shoulder, her hand grasping at Barriss’s shirt. The Force lightened around Ahsoka as _sad_ and _hurt_ and _scared_ became _warm_ and _happy_ and _safe._

“Nice.”

If not for the fact that she was holding Ahsoka, Barriss would have jumped. As it was, she flinched. She twisted her head to look at the source of the voice.

Anakin Skywalker stood at the door with a smirk on his face.

At that moment, Barriss wanted to let go of Ahsoka, because nothing said _attachment_ like cuddling someone.

Also, this was slightly humiliating.

But Ahsoka was still holding on, and Barriss couldn’t bring herself to let go.

So she just gave Anakin an uncomfortable stare, her hand still rubbing soothing patterns on Ahsoka’s back.

“Master Skywalker,” she greeted in a whisper.

Ahsoka stirred. “Master?” she yawned.

Anakin’s smirk disappeared and he speedwalked to the side of the bed so fast that he stumbled over his own feet. “Yeah, Snips?” he said quickly. “I’m right here.”

“What are you doing here?” she asked. Then she looked at her hand, still tangled in Barriss’s shirt, and at Barriss, still holding her close. Hurriedly, she released Barriss’s shirt. “What am _I_ doing?”

“I was just checking on you,” Anakin said. His smirk returned. “And it looks like I got here just in time.”

“What’s… what’s that supposed to mean?” Ahsoka asked, yawning again.

Anakin stood there with his stupid smirk, waiting for it to sink in.

Then Barriss saw Ahsoka’s stripes go from navy to midnight blue—the Togrutan equivalent of blushing.

“What—you don’t think—Master, it’s not like that!” Ahsoka protested, glaring at him.

Barriss realized what Anakin meant. She felt her cheeks heat up, and vaguely registered the fact that she was stuttering something unintelligible.

“All right, all right, don’t get all…” Anakin paused, _“excited.”_ He winked.

Ahsoka’s glare intensified, as did Barriss’s blush.

“Anyway, _this_ is what I got here in time for,” Anakin said, holding up his right hand.

Barriss stared. He had taken off his glove, revealing a prosthetic hand. She hadn’t known he had a prosthetic. But still, it was just… his hand. A prosthetic, but just a hand.

“Um…” Ahsoka said.

Anakin stepped closer, holding out his right hand, the palm facing them. “Notice anything?”

Barriss and Ahsoka both leaned forward to look closer. Barriss saw some type of glass circle in the center of the mechanical palm. Frowning, she looked up at Anakin, who looked a little bit too pleased with himself.

“It’s a camera,” he declared. “I just added it. And it works pretty well, if I do say so myself.”

Barriss and Ahsoka’s mouths dropped open in unison before they both started talking at once.

“Master Skywalker, you didn’t—”

“Master, you can’t just—"

He just shrugged. “Don’t worry, you guys look cute together—”

“Shut _up,_ Master!” Ahsoka groaned.

“—and I won’t show it to the Council.”

“Whatever. Go away, I want to sleep,” Ahsoka grumbled. She grabbed onto Barriss again and nuzzled her face into Barriss’s shoulder.

Barriss froze up. She had been okay with this before, but Ahsoka had been asleep and scared from a nightmare.

Ahsoka looked up. “Oh… sorry, sorry, sorry,” she mumbled, moving away.

Barriss didn’t want her to go.

“No, it’s all right,” Barriss said. She held out her arms.

Ahsoka looked at her for a moment, then smiled and snuggled up next to her, grabbing Barriss’s arm and pulling it around herself. “You’re nice,” she murmured.

“Have fun, you two,” Anakin said, turning on his heel and leaving the room.

Ahsoka groaned. “Don’t listen to him,” she said. “That’s not what… that would be crazy…” She looked up at Barriss. “Right?”

Barriss cleared her throat. “Right. Of course.”

“Okay,” Ahsoka yawned. “Mm, you’re a nice pillow. Sleep good, Barriss.”

“You too, Ahsoka.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed the story!


End file.
